1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to truck-bed mounted campers, sometimes referred to in the art as wheel-less campers. More particularly, this invention relates to a latch system for securing a camper in the bed of a truck in a manner that substantially eliminates the tendency of the camper to bounce within the bed of the truck during transport.
2. Description of the Related Art
Truck bed campers, bed-mounted shell tops, and truck mounted tent campers have long been known in the art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,833, issued to Margetts et al. on Jun. 28, 1974, discloses a geared system, including gear engageable racks mounted on the bottom of the camper for loading the camper into the bed of the truck and for locking the camper body against sliding off the truck bed after it has been loaded thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,649, issued to Beal, on Mar. 10, 1987, discloses a rail system having rail members mounted on the top surface of the truck bed walls and cooperating rail members secured to the underside of the camper shell. These cooperating rail members engage one another in dove tail fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,794, issued to Kelsch et al. on Dec. 2, 1997, discloses a combination pickup shell and carpet kit that can be loaded or unloaded in minutes by one person. U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,302, issued to Kerr on Nov. 10, 1998, discloses an apparatus for mounting a camper on the bed of a vehicle, in which the apparatus includes a pair of laterally spaced and generally opposed stabilizers for engaging the camper and aligning the camper with the bed of the truck. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,951, issued to Rasmussen on May 22, 2007, discloses a tie-down assembly for securing a truck camper to a truck. U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,637, issued to Smith on Jan. 29, 2008, discloses a vehicle cargo bed tent camper. And, U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,158, issued to McCarthy et al. on Jul. 9, 2013, discloses a wheel-less truck mounted camper having jack stands for supporting the camper and which are disposed within a sidewall of the camper. Typically, bed-mounted campers are secured to the truck-bed by tie-downs, such as the tie-downs disclosed in the '951 patent. However, these tie-downs can apply spreading forces to the frame of the camper that are undesirable.
What is missing from the art is a latch system having rails mounted on the bottom frame of the camper and that cooperate with rails which are removably secured to the bed of the truck, or a truck-like vehicle having a bed; and that are adapted to secure the camper in the bed of the vehicle so as to prevent the camper from bouncing within the bed during transport.